Final Fantasy XX The Chosen Ones
by TheBeastThatLostItsPlaceToGo
Summary: My version of a future Final Fantasy game. FFXX takes place in a world where humans and Beasts must fight together against an army of mutants. Characters based on main people from VII, VIII and X, however, the real chars will make guest appearences! LEMON
1. Prologue

**The Chosen Ones**

**Prologue**

The sun rose over the horizon and the sky could not be any bluer. The grasslands and hills painted a beautiful picture against the amazing backdrop of the rising sun. A gentle breeze blew and the birds sang. The beautiful music mixed with the haunting scream of a dying man. Swords clashing and slicing through flesh, a horrible scene. The world was at war...

The Battle of 100 Days, as it was called, took the lives of almost a million people. It was also the first battle of a war that would continue for fifteen more years. Reno Solomon, and his army of mutants known as The Castaways, rebelled against the people, against the government and declared a war against mankind. The armies of Man and Beast could not stop The Castaways and soon, humans and Beasts were hiding in the remnants of what used to be major cities. The only hope Mankind had was that The Chosen Ones from the legends would soon come to liberate the world.

The legend foretold of nine warriors who would rise from the oppression and liberate the world. The nine would have the symbol of the Guardian Spirits on their body to prove that they were indeed The Chosen Ones. The Guardian Spirit would find their master and protect them, acting as an armor in battle. The nine would face betrayal and pain, hatred and torment... they would be put to the test over and over again, but in the end, they would succeed. Evil would be conquered and both Man and Beast hoped the defeated evil would include Solomon...


	2. Chapter I

**Chapter I**

19 year-old Steven Vincent LeBrock was walking in the shadows in the streets of what used to be New York City. His best friend, 18 year old David Connors, was walking beside him. It was dead silent. A little mouse ran past them, knocking over an empty beer can. The two stopped walking and looked at each other. In the distance, they heard a Castaway scream. There was another battle going on near the river.

"Hey, Steve," David whispered.

"Don't call me that..." came the reply.

"Sorry, forgot you hate that name. Anyway, are we lost?"

"No, what makes you think that?"

David looked around and crossed his arms. Vincent took his baseball cap off, running a hand through his long, spiky blonde hair.

"Come on, Steve-o. Look around. I don't recognize any of these buildings. Where are we?"

"My name is Vincent. And we are not lost. Our destination is that building, right there." Vincent pointed to a pathetic excuse of a building.

"Great, we're here!" David sarcastically replied.

The two walked towards the door. David knocked on it gently and the door fell off its hinges. They proceeded inside.

"Hello?" David shouted.

There came no answer. In front of the two guys was a hallway, leading to a single door.

"Door #1?" Vincent asked.

"Guess so..." David answered.

Vincent opened the door and looked inside. There was nothing to see but pitch black darkness. They moved inside and the door closed behind them. David tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

"Guess we're stuck in here."

Vincent pulled out his cell and turned on the light. It was a reasonable sized room, maybe an office or so. There was no furniture and it was very bare. The only thing that was there was a hole in the floor six feet in diameter. David looked at the hole.

"Don't tell me we have to go in there..."

Vincent said nothing and jumped in the hole. David reluctantly followed. The two landed in a cave seven feet down. David landed right on his behind and yelped. He got up and took out his cell, using its light to find Vincent, who was already walking up ahead. David ran to catch up to him but Vincent stopped walking, crouched and pulled David down too.

"What the hell, man?"

Vincent put his hand on David's mouth, silencing him. He pointed up ahead and slowly started walking over to whatever it was he was pointing at. David looked confused and followed Vincent, shaking his head. The two hid behind a rock and looked around its corners. They saw an old man holding an old looking piece of paper. It appeared that he was talking to a group of people their age. Vincent also saw two Beasts, a lion-Beast and a wolf-Beast.

David noticed them too and thought back to when he was a little kid, when humans despised the Beasts. Genetically enhanced humans mixed with animal DNA, this new race of humans were treated worse than garbage. Forced to live in the wilderness, the Beasts became more animal-like and fierce fighters, fighting for their survival. They were the first to be attacked by the army of Castaways and immediately a war started between the two races. When the humans got involved, the Beasts wanted an alliance to be formed, but the humans declined and fought alone. And on day 34 of the Battle of 100 Days, the humans would have suffered a major loss if it wasn't for the Beasts, who jumped in right when the humans were on the ground, bleeding. After that, a treaty was signed, uniting the Men and the Beasts.

"Is this the place?" David asked.

Vincent didn't say a word. He just got up and joined the others. David, reluctantly, followed. The old man looked at the two.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. LeBrock and Mr. Connors. I knew you would be coming here. You bear the marks, don't you?"

"You mean this crappy scar on my arm? Yeah, I got it..." David's temper got the better hand of him.

"Yes, we do." Vincent answered the old man's question.

"Good... I am Shaman Vega, keeper of the Guardians. You, Mr. LeBrock, carry the mark of the Phoenix right? And you, Mr. Connors, have the mark of the Crow, correct?"

Both answered positive and Shaman looked at the two. Vincent was medium height and strong, but David looked sneaky... like he had an ulterior motive for things. In Shaman's opinion, the Crow suited him.

"The nine of you are all here because you all share something. The mark of the Guardian Spirit. You all had a dream last night. A dream that told you to come here. Here you will meet your destiny..."

The old man looked behind him and the nine followed suit. There was a cave leading off to the side. They could hear bird calls coming from within.

"We have to go in there?" David asked.

A young man in the crowd stood up and walked to the opening. A little girl followed him and clutched his leg. He stroked her hair and grabbed her hand. They moved inside, followed by the two Beasts, a tall guy who tried to look tough, and two young women. David looked at Vincent, who already started following the others, and reluctantly joined them. The nine moved down a spiraling, stone staircase. When they finally reached the bottom, they were greeted with the calls of nine metallic birds, the nine Guardians. The birds looked at the newcomers and grew silent. They bowed their heads in respect for the humans and the two Beasts. Vincent looked at a beautiful, white, blue and black, metal bird in the shape of a Phoenix. He looked at his arm and saw the mark of the Phoenix glowing. He looked at the others. Their marks were glowing too. The birds saw that and flew to the ceiling. They came back down and dove into their masters bodies. Vincent felt sudden warmth overcome him as the Phoenix entered his arm. He looked at David, who had a big smile on his face, and smiled. Shaman stood at the top of the stairs.

"You are the Chosen Ones. You now carry the Guardian Spirits in you. The legends foretold that you would liberate this world, so go and do it. Fight the Castaways and save this planet."

Just as Shaman finished the walls of the cave exploded and a platoon of Castaways stood there, smiling. Their smell overwhelmed the others, reeking of garbage and sewage. The leader looked at Vincent and pointed his sword at him. Vincent looked around. The little girl in the back was clutching the older guy's leg, crying. The two Beasts were growling, ready for action. Just then, he could feel a warmth inside his chest. He could feel a burning desire to fight. He could feel the Phoenix inside him. He focused on the Phoenix and could feel it leaving him, flying around him. The Phoenix was hovering in front of him and its wings came off attaching to Vincent's back. Its body came apart and formed the chest armor. Its head formed to Vincent's head and became his helmet. And within a matter of seconds, Vincent was gone and was replaced by an 8 feet tall, armor clad warrior who shared some physical traits with some of the robots in Japanese cartoons. His white and black armor was shining bright and the streak of blue was sparkling real nice. He looked at David and saw that the same happened to him too. His best friend had turned into a red version of himself. The nine Chosen Ones were all wearing the Guardian Armors and stood ready for a fight. The Castaways stood in fear of the new opponents before them. They started to back away, but there was someone behind them. It was the guy with the little girl. He was wearing a black armor with crimson lines, its Hawk eyes staring at its opponents. The Castaways were surrounded. Vincent saw the wolf-Beast reach behind him and pull out two metal rods. He slid one into the other and made a staff.

There was a scream. A smoking pile of meat fell to the ground. A Castaway was hit in the torso by an energy ball. The Falcon Guardian stood with one hand towards the group of Castaways, his palm facing them and still smoking. The wolf-Beast charged at them with his staff under the cover fire of the Falcon guy shooting energy balls from his hand. In the mean time, the Hawk guy was slicing through the Castaways from behind, his long sword cutting through armor and flesh. The little girl that was by his side was using a whip to take the Castaways down. The lion-Beast had two daggers drawn and was cutting through the mass. David had a scythe in his hand and was protecting the Crane and the Falcon, who were shooting arrows and energy balls. Vincent looked at the broadsword in his hand and charged head on...


	3. Chapter II

**Chapter II**

Vincent slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His surroundings were unknown. Where was he? Why were the walls pink and with bunnies?

"Bout time you woke up," Vincent heard a voice from next to him. He looked and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "You've been asleep for the past seven hours. Your friend got worried. He seems like a nice guy...David right?" Vincent nodded his head. "And you are Steven, but you go by Vincent, right?" Another nod. "Okay, well, I'm Julia. Julia Diaz or, as Shaman calls me, the Crane. It's nice to meet you."

"Where am I?"

"You're in Shaman's house."

"Shaman?" Vincent looked around, thinking of what happened earlier. "I don't remember anything."

"It's because you hit your head and got knocked out, Honey..." Another voice came from behind him. It was the other girl from the cave, the Robin. "Yours truly here had go and carry you over here."

"Thank you..."

"Awww... look Jules, he's blushing."

"Shaman wants to see you." Another voice. Vincent was a little overwhelmed by all these strangers. He turned to see who it was. It was the guy with the little girl. Vincent could now get a closer look at him. He was at least 6 feet tall, broad shouldered. He had dark brown hair that reached his shoulders. The little girl was beside him again and Vincent noticed that the shared some physical features. They had the same eyes and the same nose.

"Who are you?"

"It's rude not to introduce yourself before asking for someone's name, but I'm James and this is Claudia, my sister. She has been looking after you together with Julia."

Vincent looked at Claudia. She seemed so innocent, so pure. And she was supposed to be one of them? A Chosen One?

"Thank you..." Vincent seemed lost and James reminded him that Shaman wanted to se him. Vincent left and the four stood in the room, taking in what just happened.

"Nobody tells him what really happened."

James looked at the girls. They nodded their heads. Julia started making the bed and Claudia went off to play with Samantha. James quietly left the room and walked outside. He was standing in a courtyard, surrounded by basalt walls. It was funny. Man had abandoned the idea of castles, but now that the war broke out, the safest place they could be was in one. Beautiful architecture surrounded James as he walked on the castle walls. Shaman had lived in this castle and offered refuge for those who were driven out of the cities. Or if someone almost destroyed it, just like them. James thought of what happened a few hours ago.

_There was a scream. A smoking pile of meat fell to the ground. A Castaway was hit in the torso by an energy ball. The Falcon Guardian stood with one hand towards the group of Castaways, his palm facing them and still smoking. The wolf-Beast charged at them with his staff under the cover fire of the Falcon guy shooting energy balls from his hand. In the mean time, James was slicing through the Castaways from behind, his long sword cutting through armor and flesh. Claudia was using a whip to take the Castaways down. The lion-Beast had two daggers drawn and was cutting through the mass. David had a scythe in his hand and was protecting Julia and the Falcon, who were shooting arrows and energy balls. Vincent looked at the broadsword in his hand and charged head on, cutting through Castaway after Castaway. It was as if no one could stop him, not even himself._

_ Slicing through bodies and pushing through the masses, Vincent went berserk. Standing in the middle of the army, Vincent extended his clawed gloves and spun, cutting through muscles and tendon. He hit something metal and looked; it was James, the Hawk. Vincent pulled and sliced through him. James went down and the others started to back off. Within seconds, the Castaways were dead, torn to pieces. Vincent was glowing, energy radiating off of him. The earth started to tremble as the Chosen Ones looked at their comrade. Vincent started walking and the Falcon tried to stop him, only to get knocked down. Vincent's voice echoed in the cave. Vincent's scream. His continuous cry of "NO" went on as he stumbled out of the cave, the others following._

_Soon they found themselves in the city. Vincent tore through buildings, cars. He couldn't control himself, as he sliced through a bus with passengers. James found himself watching Vincent destroy everything they were supposed to protect. He couldn't take it anymore. James pulled out his sword and charged Vincent. Missing his first swing on purpose, he got Vincent's attention. Vincent swung his fist at him and James blocked it. The others stood by, watching as James and Vincent were fighting, hand-to-hand._

_Suddenly a loud noise deafened the crowd and Vincent dropped. James backed off and turned to the directions the noise came from. There was a man dressed in black, holding a sword. Behind him stood a small army of SOLDIER, the elite troopers of the Army. Vincent was knocked out and the sword was bloody. Whoever this guy was, he hit Vincent so hard it went through his helmet and so fast that no one saw it. Whoever he was, he just saved them..._

"Squall Leonhart..." That was his name. James thought of the man with the scar. Squall was supposed to be some big-shot general in the Army. He certainly looked like one. He yelled at Shaman for letting this incident happen and then congratulated James on doing a fine job protecting the city. Words of praise... something James was not used to.

21 year-old James Bealls was a loner. The only one he cared about was his sister Claudia. Their parents died in a car accident 6 years ago, and with no one to raise Claudia, James left the Military Academy to raise her himself. A hard task for a teenager, but it was something he had to do, so he did. Never had a girlfriend or any friends, James learned to live by himself. A true survivor. Standing on the castle walls, his azure eyes looked far away into the distance. Could Vincent be trusted? Maybe. Hopefully. He was a Chosen One, but he almost blasted the city into oblivion. Some Guardian he was... James heard footsteps and turned, only to find Shaman and Vincent walking up to him.

"James," Shaman began, "come with me. There is something I want to show you and Vincent."

James followed him and the two were lead into a dark and cold basement. Inside there were two tombs. And dark figures stood beside them. James drew the dagger he had in his boot but Shaman stopped him. The figures stepped into the light. It was Squall and some blonde, spiky-headed guy.

"This is Cloud Strife. He is the General of the Army and personal advisor to the President. And I believe you've already met General Leonhart of SOLDIER." Shaman explained.

The generals moved to the tombs and ceremoniously opened them. James and Vincent looked at each other and shrugged. The two moved closer as the two generals pulled huge cases out of the tombs. Cloud presented his maroon case to Vincent, while Squall gave his black case to James. The cases were put on the ground and the two slowly opened them. The maroon case had a symbol of a falling meteor on it and the inside was lined with fur. Inside was a sword, a huge sword. A thin but broad blade with two holes by the handle. Vincent looked at Cloud.

"That, my friend, is the Buster Sword. It used to be my sword, but now I'm giving it to you. And don't worry about not being able to use this, I'll teach you how."

In the mean time, James was staring at the black case that was before him. It had a sliver lion with a cross on it. He opened it and inside was the coolest looking piece of metal ever. James smiled, but then smirked.

"Umm... Squall? What is this?"

"That is a revolver"

"What does it do?

Squall picked up the revolver. He aimed it at the ground and pulled the hammer back. A blade slid out of the barrel and turned it into a sword.

"This is the Revolver Gunblade. It's a sword with a revolver handle. You see, back in the 22nd century, humans used these things called guns. They would fire pieces of lead and kill people. This specific gun doesn't shoot these things; instead it has a blade come out of it. James, you seem like a person who would never use a gun in combat, but a blade. An honorable fighter, yes?"

James looked at Squall. Honorable? Him? Well, he did like to fight a fair fight, one-on-one, like a dual. But still... James simply nodded.

"Well, here, take it. It's yours. I'm giving it to you. Use this instead of that crummy sword."

James took the gunblade from Squall and held it. He swung it once and smiled.

"I'll take it."

Claudia came running into the basement, screaming Shaman's name.

"Yes, little one?"

"The guy in the tower said that they're coming!"

James walked up to Claudia. "Who's coming?"

"_They_ are"

Within seconds, James was in Hawk-armor mode. He was still holding the gunblade. He looked at Claudia. "Stay here. Find Samantha and stay here. You," he looked at Vincent. "you stay out of my way. I'm going to do this by myself."

James ran out and jumped onto the castle walls where the others were, firing arrows at the approaching army of Castaways. James tightened his grip on the gunblade.

_Vincent,_ he thought, _he's overrated. I'll show them who the real warrior is. I'll defeat this army by myself and prove that I'm the only one they need._

James stared at the army, crouched and jumped off the wall, and stood bravely awaiting the first wave of Castaways...

IV


	4. Chapter III

**Chapter III**

James ran straight for the Castaway commander, slicing his head off with his new gunblade. Blood sprayed out of his neck and bloodied James. He turned the left and saw a Castaway charging him. James spun around and made him miss his attack. James countered and sliced through his torso, separating the head and right arm from the rest of the body. A fragment of bone flew and hit James in the face. His black armor shone in light of setting sun. His blue eyes glared with anger. He growled and the Hawk burned inside him. Three Castaways charged and with a swing, all three were sliced in half. James screamed a war cry at the top of his lungs and charged further into the crowd.

Vincent and the others were standing on the castle walls, watching the massacre that was James and a gunblade. Claudia was crying and the girls couldn't watch anymore. Squall and Cloud were fixated on the way James moved. Vincent watched in fear. He could see a black and red flash moving from victim to victim, taking them out as if it were nothing. Vincent could hear James' yells and screams as he cut through Castaway flesh, tearing through and crushing them.

James could feel his energy draining from him. He was getting tired, and fast. He looked around and saw about 150 Castaways left. His vision was getting blurry and he felt a burning pain in his side. He felt it and his hand came back, more bloody than before. He looked and saw a huge gash in his armor. He looked at the gublade. It was glowing, calling him to keep moving. James jumped up, silhouetted by the sun and came back with his gunblade down. The blade hit the ground and an enormous wave of energy came out of the shockwaves. The Castaways were launched into the air and James jumped after them, cutting through them in midair. When James landed, surrounded by almost a thousand bodies littered across the field, he stood with his chin up and no regard to his injury. What James didn't notice is that there was one Castaway left, crawling without legs. He cast a fire spell at James and died. James noticed the ball of fire flying at his face and blocked it with the gunblade, causing a major explosion that the others could feel back at the castle.

When the smoke and flames had settled, Vincent scanned the field for James' body. He began to get nervous when he couldn't find him, but Julia tapped him on the shoulder. She pointed into the distance and Vincent followed her finger. There was a dark figure stepping out of the flames. Crimson-stained and limping, James stepped out, leaning on his gunblade and clutching his side. When he saw the others looking at him, he stood up straight and proud. He took another step and almost fell. James caught his balance and kept walking, looking down. He glanced up and looked right into Vincent's eyes. Vincent looked away and thought that James looked like a devil in hell, surrounded by flames and bodies. The black armor was scratched up and blood red. His spikes looked like devil horns and Vincent looked right into his eyes. James' blue eyes were glowing red and were full of hatred and anger.

Claudia jumped from the wall and ran towards James. She ran and jumped, making him drop his gunblade and catch her. She held on to him as tight as she could and he dropped to his knees. Though no tears were running, James was sobbing. He looked at his sister and saw that the blood had gotten all over her clothes. Blood that he had caused to spill. He heard crying and saw his little sister with tears streaming down her face. James got back up and picked up his gunblade. He ignored the pain and carried her back to the castle where the others were waiting. He could feel them staring at him and he didn't care. He won. Wasn't that the important thing? He defeated the enemy and saved the world for a day. But in doing so, made his sister worry, probably made the others worry, scratched up his armor, bloodied the gunblade, caused an explosion, destroyed a lot of land and Castaways, and received a major injury. Was it worth showing off? Did he get the attention he wanted?

He reached the castle walls and jumped on it, scaring everyone there. He looked at Julia and saw tears on her face. Was she crying too? And Samantha as well? Why? Were they worried about him? The Falcon wasn't in "tough guy mode" and looked sincerely scared. What was his name? Joe? John? Johnny, that's it. Johnny Saldana. He seemed like a cool guy. Good conversationalist. But would he still talk to James after this? Leon the lion-Beast and Vic the wolf-Beast looked like they would attack if he made the wrong move. Vincent's friend looked like he pissed his pants. He seemed like a coward to James, and looked like he was about to run away to mommy. James powered down and his Hawk went back inside him. He wasn't as bloodied as his armor, but he was getting there. The gash in his side sure wasn't helping. He looked at Samantha and she took Claudia from him. James smiled and passed out, falling into Vincent and Vic's arms.

James slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His surroundings were unknown. Where was he? Why were the walls pink and with bunnies?

"Bout time you woke up," James heard a voice from next to him. He looked and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "You've been asleep for the past three hours."

James looked around and realized that he was in the same room Vincent was in after his little outburst of anger. He looked at the angel and noticed that it was Julia. She was holding a cup of ice-cold water and a small towel. James felt hot, burning hot, and was sweating. His shirt was off and he could see the sweat slowly sliding down his body. His hair was wet and sticky. His side was bandaged up and numb. He touched his bandages and saw that they were a little bloody. Was he hurt _that_ bad? He heard soft singing and turned to Julia. She was pouring a little bit of the water onto the towel. She was quietly singing an old song that James liked. He smiled sadly to himself and looked down. Julia started laughing. James looked at her and she was smiling at him.

"Claudia told me you liked that song. It's nice to see you smile. You have a really nice smile."

James smirked. She was getting closer to him, and he liked it. It hurt. It hurt a lot, especially in his side. The pain in his side was starting to come back and he could feel it stinging. He grimaced as the pain shot up and Julia laid him down and placed the wet, cold towel on his chest. She propped his head up and made him drink a bit of the water. He calmed down and it wasn't long before he drifted away and fell asleep.

It was long past midnight and Samantha Kahler woke up to horrible screams. She got up and ran to see what it was. She wandered around the dark halls of the castle before she got to a room lit by a single candle. The door was slightly open and she peeked in. it was Julia and she was singing. Singing? Why? Samantha looked further and saw James on the bed bleeding, screaming bloody murder. The screams were slowly becoming less and less violent and painful due to the singing. Julia had a knack for helping people, patching them up and everything. She was born to be a nurse, and seeing her with James confirmed that. Samantha smiled when she listened more intensely. She could hear the words and the lyrics suddenly came to her. She knew this song. It was an old one by Sinatra. Something _to the moon_... fly? Yeah, that was it. _Fly Me To the Moon_. Nice song and apparently James thought so too. The young Kahler girl looked at James. Julia was giving him new bandages and he felt it alright. His eyes were closed tight as if he was holding more screams in. He was sweating and bleeding, and Samantha couldn't help but feel bad. No one should go through pain like this. She looked at his face. He was kinda cute, nice body, amazing azure eyes. Eyes that showed pain and anger. Samantha walked back to her room and drifted to sleep with James screaming in the background...


	5. Chapter IV

**Chapter IV**

A figure was sleeping until the sun came shining through the window and right in his eye. It was 20 year-old Johnny Saldaña, the Falcon Guardian. He sat up in his bed and looked around. He tried to remember what happened in his dream but everything was such a blur to him. Then he remembered the blood, the screaming and the bodies getting ripped to shreds. The black figure moving through the mass of Castaways and slicing with a shining gunblade. It had been two weeks since it happened but it still freaked Johnny out. But the thing that freaked him out the most was those eyes. That James guy had blue eyes, but when he was fighting, they turned blood red. Johnny ran his hand through his short, dirty blonde hair. There was a loud scream and Johnny looked up. He jumped out of his bed and ran out to see what happened. He saw Vincent turn the corner to the bunny room and followed.

When he came to the room, he saw Claudia screaming and laughing with tears going down her face. James had picked her up and swinging her around. It seemed that he had healed and was back to normal. The girls were crying and Vincent and David were smiling too. Johnny cracked a small smile and went back to his room to get changed.

"We need to back up this front right here." Squall pointed to a spot on a map that Johnny couldn't even read. "Colonel Valentine needs the reinforcements bad. If we swing here, we could come back with a counteroffensive."

The President looked like he was thinking hard and Johnny only got even more confused. He didn't understand tactics at all but thought that he knew more than the President. He supported him during the election, but Johnny was skeptic about the President's military skills. Cloud turned to Squall and smirked.

"We don't have a commander to spare. Especially with Auron's loss with the Beasts in the Kalm lands. Backing him up should be our priority, not Valentine."

The Chosen Ones stood against the wall, listening to the generals argue and grew bored. Vincent stepped forward and Johnny looked at him.

"We could go. Colonel Steiner could reinforce one of the two and the nine of us will go to the other."

There was deadly silence and Johnny looked at Cloud's face. He nodded and stood up. He walked over to the nine and looked at Vincent.

"Very well...go. I'll give you some reinforcements to go along with you. A platoon or two. How does that sound?"

"We don't need them. Just send us and we will get the job done, sir."

Two hours later, the nine were standing by the castle gates, ready to go. They were all carrying a bag with supplies and a small sword, just in case. The gates opened and they started on their trip. Johnny looked behind him and saw James in the back. Johnny was reluctant to let James go on the trip and after the meeting, he told Vincent.

_The meeting adjourned and everyone left the room. Johnny ran up to Vincent in the hallway and stopped him._

_"Do you think that all nine of us should go, man?"_

_"James. That's what this is about right?"_

_"He just got better. And don't forget his little psycho moment, dude. Can we trust him?"_

_"Yes, as long as we don't piss him off. Look, whether we trust him or not, like him or not, he IS part of the team. We are The Chosen Ones and we have to stick together."_

_"But what if goes berserk on us again, bro?"_

_"We just need to make sure that he's attacking the bad guys and not us."_

For some reason, talking to Vincent didn't help and Johnny was still suspicious of James. But seeing him with his sister, it was as if nothing happened. The girls were still nice to him and the guys still hung out with him. Johnny looked to his left and saw the two Beasts, Vic and Leon. They didn't trust James as well. It was hard trusting the humans, but James. Johnny knew what they were thinking.

Living by himself for the past few years, Johnny Saldaña was a cadet at the academy before having the dream that changed his life. A total slacker and a hustler, Johnny could get everything. Fake watches, fake gold, everything. But being one of the Chosen Ones really changed him. He began to have a sense of responsibility and honor. And for once, he actually had friends. He smiled to himself and pulled his hood over his head and shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

James was walking in the back and heard a noise. Vic started growling and the group stopped. Vincent turned to Vic.

"You smell something?"

"Castaways," he growled. "a platoon of them. They're right on us too."

Vic and Leon were in armor mode and ready to fight. James pushed Claudia in Samantha's direction and went into armor mode as well. He turned to Vincent.

"Get the girls out of here. Go to the camp and we'll handle this."

"No! You're still wounded; you take the girls out of here." Vincent stepped forward but Johnny stopped him.

"James, go with Vincent and the girls. I'll stay with Vic and Leon and fight."

Vincent pulled James away from the fight and led the girls out of there. Vic was swinging his staff around and slicing with his claws. Leon was stabbing Castaways left and right using his two daggers. Johnny focused on his Falcon and he felt the Guardian come out to protect him. His white armor wrapped around his body and he could see the blue streaks appear. His hands started glowing and he felt the energy ready to fired and rip through bodies. He shook any violent thoughts away. This fight was going to be with honor, and energy balls.

Vic was knocked down by a Castaway. He turned to his assailant and saw him fly over the horizon. Leon stood where the Castaway was standing, holding bloody daggers, but he, also, was struck. The two were getting tired and weak. They were surrounded by the surviving Castaways and one approached them. Suddenly, his head burst into blue flames and fell off his body. Another was struck in the shoulder, severing the arm. He screamed bloody murder and started running in circles, only to be struck by another blast in the head. The castaways looked to see who was attacking them. Two more were struck by headshots. The crowd started to get nervous and Vic and Leon used this to get back up and start their attack once more.

Under the cover of Johnny's wave of energy blasts, the two charged head on. The Castaways were being slaughtered. Johnny jumped from his sniper spot in the trees and landed right in the middle of the carnage. Vic and Leon ducked and Johnny extended his arms. Two huge waves of blue energy came out of his hands. The remaining Castaways were blown into the woods and were killed by the impact. Johnny looked at the two Beasts. They were exhausted, hurt. There was no way they could last another fight without getting some rest. There was a noise. Johnny looked and saw Castaway reinforcements. _Shit, _he thought. _I can't fight them by myself._

The Castaways surrounded him and he started forming his energy balls in his hands again. This was looking bad. Johnny stood ready and heard footsteps behind him. And out of nowhere, an arrow flew next to him, missing him by less than an inch. It struck a Castaway in the face. Johnny looked behind him and saw the others standing there with Colonel Valentine's army. Vincent and Julia were in armor mode and Colonel Valentine was holding an ancient weapon. One that Squall was talking about. A gun? Was that what it was called? The army attacked and James pulled Johnny to the side. The girls dragged the two Beasts to safety and Vincent was slicing through the army, joined by James who left Johnny. Colonel Valentine walked up to Johnny.

"You Johnny?" His deep voice sounded calm and a little scratchy. Johnny nodded his head. "Good. You know, Vincent told me about what you did. You volunteered to stay behind. That's very honorable. I'll make sure you get an award for that." And with that, he was gone.

Johnny Saldaña opened his eyes and tried to wake up. He was lying in a tent and smelled the woods and nature from outside the tent. He walked out and found himself in a camp. He saw soldiers polishing their swords and cleaning their clothes for inspection. A hand rested on his shoulder and Johnny jumped back.

"Relax, it's just me." Colonel Valentine stood with a face of surprise.

"Sorry sir, scared me that's all."

"Sir? Johnny, you can call me Vincent." The raven-haired colonel's mouth turned up just a little, forming a tiny smile. _Vincent? Him too?_ Johnny chuckled.

"Thanks for saving me."

"Don't worry about it. I should thank you for saving my army. Hey, I want you to have this." He pulled his gun from his holster and handed it to Johnny. Johnny looked at it and noticed that it had _Vincent Valentine_ carved on the side.

"It absorbs your energy and fires it instead of a bullet. This way you won't have to use your hands and burn them. It's called the Death Penalty. Treat her nicely..." Valentine walked away, leaving Johnny holding his new weapon. _Death Penalty?_ He thought. _Nice..._


	6. Chapter V

**Chapter V**

A young girl was walking in a garden of flowers, picking pretty flowers to make a bouquet and humming a song. She turned the corner and ran into someone. She looked up and saw who it was. It was the president. He looked down and saw the spunky girl rubbing her forehead.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes." came the reply.

"I'm sorry. I was not looking where I was going. I am truly sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Irvine Kinneas, the President of the Federation of Gaia."

"I'm Claudia. Claudia Bealls."

"It's nice to meet you Claudia. May I walk with you?"

Claudia nodded her head and started picking flowers again, now with the escort of the President himself.

James was standing on the castle walls with Johnny. He noticed his sister with the President and nodded to Johnny.

"Didn't you say that Kinneas was a ladies-man?" James asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"What is he doing with my sister?"

"Dude, chill. Your sis is like, what 10?"

"She's 11... Or gonna be 11."

"Come on, that's too young. Even for him..." Johnny started laughing. James smirked and kept watching.

Cloud and Vincent were in the main room of the castle, discussing tactics when an explosion rocked the castle. They both jumped up and ran outside. When they got there, they found a huge battle. The wall had been blown open and Castaways were pouring into the courtyard. James and Johnny were outside the walls, holding back the army of Castaways while Claudia took the President back inside. Vic and Leon came out of their rooms and started fighting the Castaways inside the walls. The girls came out with David and went into armor mode.

Outside the walls, Johnny and James were in the middle of a raging battle. Each using their new weapons, they were picking off enemies left and right. Johnny transferred his energy into the Death Penalty and fired his shots with excellent marksmanship, while James sliced through the crowd of enemies with his Revolver gunblade. A group of soldiers were standing where the wall was, keeping the Castaways at bay and inside the courtyard; the others were fighting a group of Castaways that made it through the two outside.

The battle outside the wall grew quiet and Johnny came running to the others, while James finished off one last mutant by decapitating it and then joined. With all nine Chosen Ones surrounding the foul-smelling Castaways, the battle was sure to be theirs. Vincent and Leon charged at them, under the cover of Johnny's energy shots and Julia's arrows. James and Vic were finishing off the wounded ones who were attempting to crawl to safety. Within minutes, the battle inside had ended as well. The courtyard was stained red with blood and the nine stood in the middle of the bloodbath, breathing hard.

"Jesus... Anybody hurt?" Vincent looked at everyone.

"They got me!"

Eight of the Chosen Ones turned to the ninth one. It was David. He was on hands and knees, hunched over and was clutching his stomach. Blood was dripping from in between his fingers.

"DAVID!" Vincent ran to his friend. He dropped to his knees and grabbed David. Vincent laid his friend down and motioned for Julia to come. David powered down and his human self reappeared. A metal blade was in his stomach and the end of it was sticking out. James walked over to a staff on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it. It had a piece of metal at the end of it. James heard a man screaming. Vincent had pulled the metal blade out of David. He through on the ground and James picked it up. Leon took David inside to the medical room, also known as the bunny room and everyone but Jim followed. He stood in the courtyard with the blade in one hand and the staff in the other. Then, the light bulb turned on. James put the blade next to the staff and realized that it was a scythe. David's scythe. Whoever hurt him must've used David's own scythe against him and then broke the blade. Claudia came outside.

"Jimmy, hurry! Shaman wants all the guys inside to put pressure on the wound. It's not looking good and Julia can't fix it. It's too hard for her, so he sent an email to the doctor. HURRY!"

James followed her inside and found Julia, Samantha and 2 other women getting everything ready, while the guys had their hands on the bandaged stomach. Due to the guys putting pressure on his gut, Dave started coughing and blood from his mouth trickled down his cheek.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Shaman turned and saw the doctor standing there with President Kinneas. The doctor looked at everyone and his disfigured face smirked.

"I need everyone to leave the room. I need to work on this one alone." The doctor said. Vincent smirked and remained by David's side while everyone left. "I'm gonna need you to leave as well, young man."

"I'm not leaving him."

"Hey, Vincent, let's go." A familiar voice sounded and Vincent turned to see Cloud standing by the door. "Let the doc do his thing."

Vincent nodded his head and stood up. He took one last look at David's sleeping form and left the room. The doctor closed the door and locked it. He looked at David and pulled a chair beside the bed. He sat in it and closed his eyes. He put a hand on David's forehead and inhaled deeply.

_David? Can you hear me? I am Reno Solomon. Your enemy. I am the reason this war started. You hate me, don't you? I can read your thoughts. David, you know you're dying right? I can help you. Do you want my help? Do you want to live? Yes... you want that, don't you...? You don't want to die. Well, if you want me to help you, there's only one thing you need to do. You know what it is? Yes, that's right. Join me... join me and my forces. You want to fight, right? You want to lead an army into battle, is that it? You can't... at least with Vincent and James here. James, you don't like him do you. He's too good. He can fight and he is around Vincent more than you are. And Vincent, your best friend, is a bad leader. You can do much better, right? Well, prove to them that you can. Join us..._

David slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His surroundings were unknown. Where was he? Why were the walls pink and with bunnies?

"Bout time you woke up," David heard a voice from next to him. He looked and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "You've been asleep for the past few hours."

"Julia...?"

"Yep, that's me. I'm here. It seems that you have healed completely. It's amazing."

David remembered the doctor talking to him in his sleep. He called himself... Reno. Reno Solomon.

"Where is he?" David sat up and jumped out of bed. He ran out of the room and out of the main building. He looked at the gaping hole in the castle wall. He saw a figure on a hill far away. Was it him? David ran out of the castle and ran towards the figure. He got him and noticed that it was indeed the doctor. The doc grabbed his own face and took it off. His long silver hair reminded David of his own. It WAS him.

"Reno..."

"David... I take it that you want to join us?"

"No, I wanted to thank you for healing me. Now I'll return to my friends."

"You don't want to, do you? You say that you do, but you don't. You want to fight. Fight Vincent... right?"

"No! He is my friend, my brother!"

"I can feel your anger rising. You want to fight him. Be honest, David."

"Yes... I do..."

"Good, David..."

Reno put his hand on David's shoulder and led him to a car. He opened the door for David and they drove off. After a long ride, they arrived at a black castle. They entered it and the two walked into the main chamber. There was a throne that Reno sat on and a table with a case on it. David opened it and found a sword. His brown eyes met Reno's green ones.

"Take it. The Masamune is yours. After all, you need a weapon after yours broke."

"The what?"

"Masamune. That is the sword's name."

David took the sword out its case and looked at it. It had to be at least six feet long but it was thin and light. David felt a bit of guilt and regret, but he made the right decision. After all, he owed Reno for saving his life. He didn't want to fight Vincent but James? He was going down. And his little sister too, always smiling. He could feel the anger rising in him and Reno smiled.

At the age of six, Reno Solomon was classified as telepathic, meaning he could read minds, but more importantly, control them as well. And right now, he was making David Connors hate his own friends. And he was enjoying it.

"Will you join?"

David put the sword back and looked at Reno...

President Kinneas, Shaman, Cloud, Squall, a few officers and the Chosen Ones were in the main chamber of Shaman's castle. No one knew where David went to. And General Strife's soldiers couldn't find his tracks. David was gone, MIA, vanished. Vincent wanted to go look for him but he was called into this meeting that was going nowhere.

"We attack them. It's the only way to stop the advance."

"No, Squall, we can't. We don't have the equipment to move through the woods. We do, but we can't assemble it on such short notice. You move up the right flank with four of the kids and I'll take the other four on the left flank. Valentine can stay to guard the castle. We wait for the initial attack and move with a pincer attack. Colonels Valentine, Steiner, Highwind and Captain Dincht will follow us."

"Why not send the eight of us to see how strong the army is. If we need help, we'll come get you." Vincent interrupted.

James and Vic stood up already and Johnny was tying his boots. The girls got ready and Leon looked at the commanders.

"Vincent, are you sure?"

Vincent looked at the others and nodded his head. Yeah, they were ready. The eight moved to the castle gates. Shaman ran to them, shouting at them.

"Chosen Ones! Be careful, please... I had a vision... There is pain waiting for you if you fight today."

"Sorry old man, we gotta go." James said, walking away.

The eight moved out, leaving Shaman behind with a disappointed look on his face. They reached a hill after moving through a forest and climbed it. Vincent stood on the summit of the hill and saw the army moving towards him. He could see the commander as well. It was Reno Solomon himself. He could tell by the silver hair and the black trench coat. But, he looked younger or something was different. Julia handed him binoculars and Vincent looked at Reno's eyes. They were brown, just like David. Reno looked at him and smiled. It couldn't be... It was... The commander of the enemy army was Vincent's best friend, David Connors...


	7. Chapter VI

**Chapter VI**

The sun was setting and clouds were gathering. Thunder sounded and raindrops started to fall. The Chosen Ones were standing on the hill overlooking a field and watched as the approaching army came closer and closer. James' chocolate-colored hair was sticking to his face and he wiped away some locks. Vincent was staring at David. His old friend had betrayed him. He felt the Phoenix growing restless and went into armor mode. His eyes turned crimson, much like James' did earlier. He didn't care about the army anymore. He knew that the others would take care of that, he was going after David.

David saw Vincent transform and went into armor mode as well. Stabbing the Masamune into the ground, he felt the Crow in him attach itself to his body. His crimson armor was similar to the color of Vincent's eyes. David grabbed the Masamune and its dark powers overtook David. His shining red armor was turning darker and darker. His eyes were sky blue and his armor had become black. Pure black. Just like the evil that now flowed through his veins.

James went into armor mode and drew his gunblade. He looked at David and growled.

"He's going down..."

"NO!" Vincent yelled. "He's mine. I will be the one to take him down."

The rain started pouring now and the thunder grew louder. Claudia stood closer to her brother and the two Beasts went into armor mode.

"Vincent, if you need cover, Vic and I can help you." Leon offered. Vincent looked at the two. They were good fighters. Very strong and they never quit. He could use the help. Vincent nodded.

"Ok, here's the plan. Julia and Johnny are in the back, shooting arrows and energy at the Castaways. Vic and Leon charge the army, making a hole for us. Samantha and Claudia go with me and cover my back. James..." Vincent didn't know what to do with James. He was the best fighter he had, but he wanted David for himself. James could help him in a double team, but as long as he got to finish off David. "James, you're with me."

Everyone nodded and Johnny pulled out his Death Penalty. He fired a shot that hit a Castaway in the face. His head blew up and brain matter splattered on the ones next to him. Inside his helmet, Johnny smiled. He felt his energy flow through him and into the gun. He aimed and fired again and again. Julia stood next to him with her bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows on her back. She aimed and fired an arrow. It hit a Castaway in the shoulder, severing his right arm. He dropped his sword and grabbed his stump. A scream sounded across the field and deafened everyone. The thunder sounded and the Castaways charged.

Vic and Leon waited for the forthcoming army. They looked at each other and nodded. The two started running into the crowd. A Castaway screamed at the top of his lungs after feeling the pain of his legs getting sliced in half. Leon pulled his dagger out of the severed leg. He looked at the next target and threw his second dagger into his chest, leaving a gaping hole in the mutant. Vic was right next to him, knocking off the heads of two Castaways with his staff. Vic swung his staff around and hit Leon in the back.

"WHAT THE..." Leon started to say, but was cut off by a claw to the face. Vic turned to Leon and saw him drop. The Castaways overwhelmed the two and they were closing in. Six mutants approached them and Vic closed his eyes. He heard a blade swing and six thuds. He opened his eyes and saw James standing in front of him with a bloody gunblade. The Castaways were on the ground, missing their heads. Another scream and Vic turned to the right, only to see Samantha with one hand in a Castaway's stomach. She continued to thrust her arm into the dying mutant and pulled her arm up, ripping through him. When she pulled her arm out, the Castaway dropped to the ground in two halves, his guts spread across the field. Vic turned to Vincent, who ran up next to him.

"Leon is out cold. We need to get him out of here."

Vincent nodded. "Claudia! Get Leon to Julia and tell her to get him patched up and ready to fight again!"

The young girl nodded and picked up the unconscious Beast and ran away. Vincent helped Vic back up.

"You ok?" Nod "Alright. Now, we need to move! You and Samantha clear the path so James and I can get to David."

The horde of Castaways grew smaller and smaller as the four Chosen Ones moved closer to David. And within a matter of seconds, they had reached David. Vic and Samantha started attacking David's guards, while Vincent and James ran up to David.

"Vincent, old buddy!" David's voice sounded amongst the sounds of dying Castaways. "You're late..."

"James, let me handle this..." Vincent started. "He is my target, and..."  
"NO! This fucker's going down!" James yelled. "You betrayed us, David, you fucking son of a bitch!" And with that, James charged David without Vincent.

"No James! Don't!"

Ignoring Vincent's calls, James swung his gunblade at David, who blocked it with his new weapon. David looked into James' eyes and smiled inside his helmet. James swung low and David blocked again. James growled and started swinging faster. But every strike was blocked by David. The two were engaged in a heated battle and they were evenly matched. Vincent watched the two as they kept swinging at each other. The rain started pouring harder.

David faked a swing to the right but took a sidestep and stuck his arm out, hitting James in the side. The Masamune sliced right into the armor and the blade was cutting into James' skin. James grunted and dropped to his knees. David pulled the Masamune out and pushed James to the ground. He stood over James and brought his sword up, ready to give the finishing blow.

"And so it ends, James Bealls..."

"NOOO!"

David and James both turned to see where that came from and saw Vincent charging at David. Vincent ran into David and tackled him. He drew the Buster Sword and stood en garde. David picked up the Masamune, which he had dropped, and scoffed.

"Forget him David, and worry about me."

"That was cheesy, dude..."

"SHUT UP! YOU FUCKING BETRAYED ME, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Vincent screamed as loud as he could. David could see tears coming out of Vincent's helmet. Thunder sounded and David chuckled.

"You should see yourself. Your face, it's to die for."

"DAVID! I HATE YOU!"

Vincent swung at David, who blocked the attack, and yelled. The rain was making the hill muddy and the grass flew with every step the two took. The Chosen Ones had finished off the Castaway army and they arrived at the fight. Claudia and Julia ran to James, who was still lying on the ground. Samantha watched Vincent and every move he made. It appeared that he wasn't fighting the way he normally did. Something was wrong. He was too violent, too emotional. It was like he just wanted to slaughter David and not _just _defeat him.

The rain was clouding everyone's vision and the only thing people could see were the figures moving as if they were dancing. The white figure moving violently, and the black figure, moving with grace. The Chosen Ones stood by as the two former friends kept fighting. Julia started crying and Johnny had his hands curled into fists. James started to wake up and grabbed his gunblade. He sat up and grunted in pain. His side was bleeding heavily and blood was coming from his mouth.

"Let me at him. He's dead."

Claudia stopped him from hurting himself even more. "No! You're staying right here! Vincent can handle it by himself!"

"Vincent?" James scoffed and coughed up blood. "He can't do it. He can't kill his friend. He's too weak."

Vincent was pushing David back and was constantly on the offensive side. A swing followed by a thrust, Vincent was all over David. Then, David tripped on a rock and fell. He was lying on the ground, defeated. His helmet came off and rolled down the hill. Vincent looked into his eyes and couldn't move. The Buster Sword was inches away form David's face and he couldn't do it.

Vincent could feel his hands trembling. His best friend had betrayed him, tried to kill him. And now he was helpless, lying on the ground. David was his enemy now, but he couldn't kill him. David got back to his feet and walked away. He turned around and looked at Vincent.

"This war has just begun, Steven..." And with that, David was gone. Gone, back to Reno's castle. The others gathered around him and before James could get mad at him, Vincent dropped to his knees and started sobbing. He looked up into the sky and felt raindrops hitting him. Then, they stopped. The clouds moved away and the moon was high in the heavens. Julia hugged him from behind and Vincent lowered his head. A tear slid down his face.

"I failed..."


	8. Chapter VII

**Chapter VII**

"Vincent? Please come out... You've been in there for two days. Please come out..." Julia knocked on the door one more time.

"Still nothing?" Johnny asked.

Julia shook her head. It had been two days since the Battle of Betrayal, as the Chosen Ones called it. James and Leon were in the bunny room and Vincent hadn't left his room since. It had started to rain again and it hadn't stopped in the past two days. The Castaways had been on a rampage and Vic had been out in the field with a platoon, trying to hold them back. Out of nowhere, James cried out in pain and Julia ran to the room, leaving Johnny leaning against Vincent's door.

Julia got to the bunny room and saw Samantha putting fresh bandages on James. Julia felt a bit of jealousy inside her while watching Samantha. James looked at Sam and smiled a little. Samantha smiled back and started singing softly to him. She looked at Leon and saw that he was still asleep. Julia watched as James and Samantha enjoyed each others company.

_Somewhere in a dark forest_

Vic was walking ahead of the small platoon that accompanied him. He smelled a trail that Castaways left behind. He also smelled a once familiar scent, David.

"Keep sharp! They were here not that long ago." Vic yelled out. At the age of 4, in wolf-years, Vic was still young, but when he was human, he was already 44. Vic was originally Sergeant Victor Shultz, an old veteran and trusted soldier. An expert with a staff, he volunteered for a classified experiment called B.E.A.S.T.

_On a rainy day, Sergeant Shultz was taken to a lab and put in a tank. Tubes were put into him and a liquid was pumped into his veins. The doctors were inserting wolf-DNA into his body and it was too late to stop it. Victor screamed at the top of his lungs and his oxygen mask came off. He started moving inside the tank and the doctors sedated him. When Victor Shultz opened his eyes, his vision had improved a lot. His sense of smell was incredible and he could hear every single sound. A doctor, a colonel, set a mirror in front of Victor and he could finally see himself. Victor looked and saw a canine face in the mirror. A dog's face with a scar over his left eye, the same one he had. He looked at his hands and saw claws and fur. The man known as Victor Shultz was no more._

_As more people were turned into these Beasts, they became public enemy Number One. Including Victor. And over the next four years he had learned how to survive on his own, together with his friend Leon. Then, he had the dream..._

Vic looked around him. The trees were clouding his vision, but he could smell them. The Castaways were there. They were surrounded and Vic had led them right into the trap. One second it was quiet, the next, it was hell. Vic was in armor mode and his soldiers had their swords ready. The Castaways attacked. Vic had his staff shoved inside one's gut and pulled it out, tearing the mutant in half. A scream. Vic turned to the noise and saw one of his soldiers with a six foot sword sticking through him. A dark figure stood behind the dying man.

"DAVID!"

"Well, if it isn't the loyal lapdog. How are you?"

"You fucking asshole!"

Vic charged at David, who had gone into armor mode as well. The rain had stopped and the ground was muddy, but the two were fighting amongst a maelstrom of bodies flying everywhere. Vic's staff kept hitting the Masamune and the two were equally matched. Until David extended his leg and tripped Vic. Vic fell on the ground and wasn't fast enough to block the sword that was thrust into his shoulder. Vic cried out in pain and David pulled the Masamune out of him, only to stab him in the stomach. Vic couldn't hang on anymore and lost his armor. His wolf-like appearance was showing and blood was pouring out of every wound David had caused him. Vic was starting to lose consciousness and the last thing he saw was David looking down on him.

Vic opened his eyes and saw a beautiful sky. His head was killing him, but it felt as if it didn't matter with a sky like this. He felt a tug on his back and realized that someone was pulling him. He was dropped and Vic looked at who was pulling him. It was David. David had dragged Vic all the way to Shaman's castle and stood in plain sight.

"Are you looking for the mutt you sent after me!" David yelled.

The others had assembled on the castle walls and stood there, watching him. Leon could barely control himself. He was on the verge of jumping down and killing David right there.

"David, let him go!" Vincent tried to negotiate.

"NO! If you think I'm just another Castaway, you're wrong! I am the one who will defeat all seven of you!"

The Chosen Ones looked at each other. Seven? There were nine, minus David, makes eight. What did David mean by seven? And before any of them could figure it out, David put the Masamune against Vic's throat and cut, severing Vic's head. The wolf-like head rolled off and landed in the grass. Leon cried out Vic's name and jumped off the castle walls. He was in armor mode before he hit the ground. He ran up to David and swung both his daggers at him. He missed both and felt a blinding pain in his arms. He jumped back and saw his arms on the ground. David had severed his arms. Leon dropped to his knees and looked up. David was there and he sliced Leon's head off as well. David turned around and walked away, leaving the two bodies behind...


	9. Chapter VIII

**Chapter VIII**

"And so we pay our final respects to the fallen..." Shaman's words sounded loud in the Valley of Burials, down in the Kalm lands. The girls were crying and Johnny looked angry. James was standing quietly to the side, as he watched the two coffins get lowered. Vincent stood in the front, his eye twitching. Leon and Vic were dead. There was no coming back for them. David had killed them. Johnny pulled out his Death Penalty and fired off seven shots out of each of his three barrels.

David had to be stopped. He had killed too many people. His army had moved across the land and invaded the city of Balamb. That was too close to the castle. Vincent looked at the others. Leon and Vic's deaths were obvious proof that the Chosen Ones were not invincible. Vincent wanted to see David dead. He had gone too far. To Vincent, the man known as David Connors was dead.

James walked into his room and leaned against the door. He couldn't stand just waiting for the next person to die. What if the next one was Claudia? He had to finish off David. Too many people had died. But was he the one to defeat David? The last time they fought, James got his ass handed to him. That wasn't something that James wanted to go through again. He still had the wounds he got from David. There was a knock on his door. He opened the door and saw Julia standing there, tears coming down her face. She walked up to him and buried her face in his chest. The door closed and James wrapped his arms around her. He looked down at her and saw that she was really crying.

"Julia?"

"Why did they have to go? Why did he kill them?" She said through sobs.

"I don't know... I can't tell you why he did that. All I know is that we have to stop him."

"Why do people have to die? Can't we find a way where no one has to die?"

"I don't know, it's just life I guess..." James looked at her and saw the most beautiful eyes looking back at him. Julia closed her eyes and stood on her toes. James knew what she wanted, but was it his place to do it? She obviously needed comforting but was this the way to go? Julia was pretty, amazingly beautiful in fact, but still, it wasn't the right thing. She tried to go higher, and James gave up. He leaned down and kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. James pulled away and she looked at him weird. He saw the pain in her eyes and couldn't stop himself. He leaned in again and kissed her. She grabbed his hair and pulled him closer. James could feel the tears on her face but he didn't care. She needed someone and he would be there for her. She moved an arm down and grabbed the front of his shirt. She ripped it open and started kissing his chest.

_What is she doing? Why is she doing this? Why me? Why not Vincent? This does feel good. She's good. Wait, what am I thinking? I can't do this. This is wrong. She is so innocent, I can't do this. Fuck it, I like this and she wants it. Why complain?_ James let her kiss him and took the remains of his shirt off. She got on her knees and unbuttoned his jeans. Julia backed off and took her shirt off. She wasn't wearing a bra and James stood in front of her, speechless. She grabbed him and slipped her tongue inside his mouth, exploring it. James kissed her neck and started moving down. She pulled away and pushed him on his bed.

"I can't wait anymore, I need you now." She crawled on top of him and used her hands to take his jeans off. She kept kissing him, wanting him more and more. James wrapped his arms around her and rolled them over. She was under him, looking into his eyes. The two continued and, after a few minutes, found themselves naked and under the covers. She kissed him, silently asking him. He looked at her and decided to give her what she wanted.

James slowly moved himself inside her. She gasped when she felt the tip touch her gently. Julia wrapped her legs around James' waist, pulling him closer. He slowly inserted more and more of him in her and she closed her eyes. James felt him completely sheathed inside Julia. He started moving and Julia moaned a little. It was hurting a bit, but she bit on her lip and kept going. James closed his eyes and moved a little faster. Julia moaned and kissed his neck. She could feel him deep inside her and it felt good.

"Harder... I want you to do it harder..."

James looked at her confused. Did she really say that? He began to thrust harder and Julia let out a scream. Sweat was starting to form on their bodies and James moved faster.

"James, fuck me... Fuck me now..."

James kissed Julia on the neck and bit her gently. He sat up and started to really get into it. James grabbed her waist and pulled her even closer to him. Julia screamed out for James to fuck her more. James leaned forward and kissed her on the nose. He moved to her ear and whispered, "I'm gonna cum."

"Do it. Cum inside me. I want you to cum inside me..."

James moved faster and Julia held his hands tightly. James moaned her name, and stopped moving. He shot his load inside her and began to pant. Julia closed her eyes. She began to kiss James.

"That was amazing. O my god, Vincent..."

James stopped. Did she just say Vincent? James pulled out of her.

"Vincent? You thought I was Vincent? Was I just a replacement for Vincent?" Julia shook her head. "Get out! Get out now!" James pointed to the door.

"James, listen to me..."

"No! Get out of my room, now!"

Julia wrapped the blanket around her and grabbed her clothes. She ran out of the room with tears streaming down her face. James went back to his bed and sat on the edge of it. He covered his face with his hands.

_Why? That was the most amazing thing ever. It was me and Julia. Julia. I should've known better. I should've known that he would get in the way. Why does Vincent always get in the fucking way? Damn bastard. She was mine, I saw her first. Goddamn bitch. She used me. She fucking used me. Fine. I don't need them, any of them._

_The next morning..._

Samantha knocked on James' door. There was no answer and she slowly opened it. It was empty. James' clothes were gone. There was a note on his bed. Samantha picked it up. She opened it and read:

_To whoever reads this,_

_I am so sick of the way things are going. It's time I took things into my own hands. Samantha, please take care of Claudia. I will come back eventually, but only when I get David's head on a platter. Tell Julia that nothing happened... She'll know what it means. Anyway, I have to go before the gate watchers wake up. I'm sorry, Claudia..._

_James_

Samantha ran to the others and they read it. Claudia ran to her room followed by Samantha. The guys started talking amongst themselves and Julia faded away. A single tear rolled down her face. James was gone...


	10. Chapter IX

**Chapter IX**

"James, please pick up the phone. Please? It's me, Claudia. Whatever. James, if you get this message, please call me back." Claudia hung up the phone. She turned to Vincent. She shook her head and Vincent punched the door. What was he thinking, just leaving like that? Johnny looked at the phone. What happened last night? What made James leave? He started walking back to his room and didn't notice Vincent taking Julia to a different room.

"What happened last night?" Vincent asked Julia. He was holding on to her arm.

"Nothing. What makes you think that something happened?"

"Well, everything was fine until the funeral ended. He went to his room and you disappeared. What happened?"

"I don't know, ok? I don't know what happened!" She screamed back at Vincent.

"Why did he leave like that? Why didn't he tell anyone?" Vincent let go of Julia and walked to a window. The sun was high in the sky and Vincent squinted. He turned back to her. "I mean, we need him. Does he not realize that? I mean, we are fighting a fucking war out there, and he just leaves like that! I can't believe that guy. He deserted us AND his sister. What kind of guy does that?"

"Maybe he thought that it was the smart thing to do. Maybe he isn't good with being part of a group. You saw how he fought. It was as if he didn't care who was on his side, as long as they didn't get in the way, he didn't hurt them. Vincent, we don't even know James. Maybe he doesn't like groups; maybe he doesn't like getting to close to people."

"That asshole left us! It doesn't matter what he was thinking. He left us and his sister."

"Well, maybe he realized something, maybe someone realized something and he was in the middle of it. Maybe he got hurt..."

"What happened last night?"

"I already told you, I don't know!" She yelled at Vincent.

Vincent looked at Julia and about to say something, but he was interrupted by an explosion that rocked the whole castle. The two ran out of the room and sprinted down the hallway. They approached the door and looked outside. The newly rebuilt wall was down and Johnny was holding back a platoon of Castaways. Samantha and Claudia were helping the wounded soldiers to safety. Vincent and Julia went into armor mode and drew their weapons.

The Castaways had the upper hand and the remaining Chosen Ones were fighting a losing battle. Johnny and Claudia were on the ground, knocked out. Samantha was in a vice-like grip. Julia was cornered and Vincent was outnumbered. There was a large explosion in the middle of the Castaway army and the fighting stopped. Everyone turned to the explosion and saw a dark figure standing amidst the crowd. The figure extended his arms and held two swords. He jumped up and landed on a Castaway. He stabbed it with one sword and sliced another with his other arm. Castaways started to gather around the figure and he fought his way out, tearing through the army. Within seconds, the Castaways were all dead and one figure stood amongst the bodies. The Chosen Ones gathered around him. They slowly crept up to him and he looked at them. Claudia ran to him and hugged his leg.

"JAMES!"

"Hiya, kiddo..." James said, muffled through his helmet. He stood up and took his helmet off. There was noticeable stubble even though it had only been one night since they last saw him and his eyes were red. Sleep deprivation? But despite some differences, it was still the same old James. He looked down at the little girl at his feet and put his hands on her shoulders. He heard a twig snap and looked up. Vincent was standing in front of him with the Buster Sword in hand. James gently pushed Claudia away and drew his Gunblade.

"What the fuck happened, James?" Vincent asked.

"Well, I guess you do deserve an explanation, right?" James countered. He took a step towards Vincent. James looked in Vincent's eyes. "Well, did you try asking the little lady over there?"

"Yes, she said she had nothing to do with it."

"Really? Well, she's right, I guess. It was all my fault. Yeah, all me. I'm to blame. Seriously Vincent, did you really believe her?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"I'm out of here." James put his helmet back on and started walking away.

"James, get back here! Now! Don't leave your sister!" James stopped and turned to Vincent.

"Am I supposed to listen to you? I thought that you were part of the reason I left. Vincent, you're not my boss. I'm fucking out of here." He turned to Claudia and crouched. "Hey, kiddo, I gotta go again, ok? I'll be back eventually. Take care..."

Claudia started crying and dropped her whip. James hugged and held her close. He stood up and started walking again. Vincent was yelling at his back. And with that, James was gone again.

The Chosen Ones were back at the castle and Shaman approached them. General Leonhart nudged Cloud.

"How are we going to win this war?" he asked.

"I don't know, Squall..." Came the reply.

Vincent was sitting silently at the dining table. Julia looked at him and opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. Claudia was searching through her pockets and found a piece of paper.

"Guys, what's this?" she asked.

Everyone turned to her. Claudia thought back and remembered James hugging her. When he did that he slipped the paper in her pocket. It was him. Johnny took the paper and unfolded it. It was a map of a castle. Whose castle was it? Samantha looked at the bottom of the map and noticed some scribbling. It was James' handwriting.

_Hey, here's a map of Solomon's castle. Don't ask how I got it, just use it. Vincent, find a way inside and tell the generals to come up with some strategy._

_James_

Everyone looked at each other. James was still on their side. What a relief. Vincent smiled, the first in a long time. Things were starting to look up for the Chosen Ones.

James stood on the hill he fought on a long time ago. He had binoculars in his hand and stared at a window. It seemed that the others had found his map. His lips curled up in a small smile.

"It seems that your plan worked. Now what?" he asked a dark figure behind him.

"I'll take care of everything from here. If I need you, I'll contact you." The figure said.

"Colonel Valentine, could you do me a favor?"

Vincent Valentine looked at the young loner. "Of course." He said.

"Could you look after my sister for me?"

"If that's what you want, I will..."

"Good..." James said with a smirk. It was time to go back to the shadows and get more information for the others. He thought back to what Vincent said. He was leaving Claudia. Was it really worth it? Valentine said that it was a classified mission and he couldn't tell anyone about it, but he still wanted to be there with Claudia. Oh well, now was not the time to think about it. He started to move down a dark path and ran into a shadowy person. The person looked up and saw James.

"James..."

James drew the Gunblade. "David..."


	11. Chapter X

**Chapter X**

The sun was out on a beautiful day. Julia Diaz woke up after a long night's rest. It had been a month since the last time they saw James or David. The Castaways were still busy though. Julia yawned. She had just returned from a week long campaign in the Kalm Lands with Johnny. General Strife was WIA and General Leonhart was the general in charge for the time being. Vincent Valentine had been promoted to general but hadn't been seen in a few days. Vincent was lying right next her. He mumbled and kept snoring.

_Last night was amazing. I wish you were my first, Vincent. Sleep tight._ Julia got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. The past month had been really hard for The Chosen Ones. Julia and Vincent had become an item, inseparable from each other. Samantha had become very depressed, crying over James every night. Claudia doesn't speak with anyone. She refuses to say a word until James comes back. Johnny had become the only one who cared about what they were doing.

But to make things worse, Shaman had taken his own life, thinking that all hope was lost. Vincent had become depressed and Julia stood by his side day after day, leading into the current relationship they have. Johnny had become the leader now, leading them to victory after victory. However, it would seem as if it didn't matter how many times they won. The Chosen Ones were falling apart.

Julia stepped outside into the back yard for a nice morning stroll. The birds were chirping and the sun was as beautiful as always. It was as if nothing could go wrong. She took another step and heard a person behind her. She turned around and saw a Castaway standing there. He punched her in the face and knocked her out. He picked her up and jumped over the wall. He left a note in the middle of the backyard and ran away.

Vincent was violently woken up by Johnny. He shook the bed and Vincent rolled out, hitting his head on the floor. He looked up and saw Johnny's grim face with a note in his hand. Julia was gone.

"Reno had her and he wants Vincent to come alone to pick her up. David will be there too. I don't like it, don't like it all." Johnny said.

"I'm going after her. I don't care what anyone says, I'm going after them. I have to get Julia back."

Claudia looked at Vincent. "Why are you willing to go after her and not my brother?" She whispered.

Vincent was taken by surprise. He looked at her. The first words she had spoken in a few weeks and they were negatively directed towards him. The look in her eyes was like a snake's.

"Because your brother can take care of himself. Julia can't, at least, not around David. If she tries anything, he will kill her. You saw how he was with Vic and Leon."

"Are you really gonna do it?" Samantha spoke up for the first time that morning.

There was a commotion outside and the door was thrown open by a body crashing against it. The guard stood up and drew his sword, only to find a gunblade against his throat. James stood in the middle of the room looking really pissed.

"What the fuck were you thinking Vincent?" He asked. James grabbed him by his collar and threw him against the wall. He walked over to him and pinned him against the wall. His face was inches from Vincent's. James' hair was past his shoulders now and he had a goatee as well. His eyes, however, were still the same angry ones everyone was used to seeing. "How the fuck did you lose her, dumb shit? She was inside the fucking walls and you lost her! How the goddamn fuck do you do that? Did you think that after you fucked her, you didn't have to worry about her? HUH! Tell me, goddamnit!"

Vincent looked James in the eyes and started crying. James threw him on the floor and kicked him once.

"Pathetic... Johnny, we need a plan. Shit-stain here will distract them while we grab the girl and get the fuck out."

Claudia ran to James and hugged him. He wrapped his arm her and kissed her forehead. He looked at Samantha and opened his mouth to say something but she got up and walked away. He shrugged and turned to Johnny.

_Six hours later, at Reno's castle_

"DAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" James yelled. He kicked the door open and David stood in a huge room with Julia in a chair, tied. David turned to the door and saw two figures standing there. They approached him and he saw that it was Vincent and James. The two drew their swords and David pulled out his Masamune. James looked at Julia. She was out cold.

"This time you've gone too far, David."

"So, her two lovers are here to save her. How cute..."

"Let's go David..." Vincent said and the two charged at David...


	12. Chapter XI

**Chapter XI**

The two charged at David and begun the attack. The two men, armed with the weapons the generals armed them with almost a year earlier, clashed against David's Masamune. Blow after blow, David seemed to block each attack. Even while outnumbered, David seemed to be the better warrior, but Vincent and James were just as good. Vincent got on David's left side and kept attacking while James came in from the right, but David kept blocking each attack...

Julia was watching her two lovers fight against an impossible foe as David kept blocking with a nice, little smile snug on his face. Vincent overshot his attack and David punched him in the face while blocking one of James's attacks. Vincent backed off and James stayed on the attack. James's eyes were glaring at David as they turned red.

Only moments after barging in, the two had their armors on and David as well, but it was as if the armors didn't help the duo. Vincent was out cold and James had to fight David alone as usual. Then, it happened...

_He was walking in a grass field. Very serene and tranquil, the air was pure and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. For some reason, his head was killing him but he didn't care. There were birds singing beautiful songs and butterflies all over the flowers._

_He heard a scream. It was a female scream. He looked around, but there was no one to be found. Then he smelled rotten meat, decomposing meat. He looked down and the grass and flowers that were so beautiful were decaying at his feet and the sky above him began to turn dark and gray. Everything around him died and he suddenly felt himself chained to an invisible wall, looking over a cliff and in the sky, he could see images. Images of thousands of soldiers fighting against Castaways. Man and Beast alike suffered the same fate. The fate that some of his friends suffered. In the sky, he saw the vision of his fellow Chosen Ones sprawled on the battlefield, dead..._

_The scream came again. This time it was louder._

_"Vincent!"_

_He looked around and in front of him, he could see an angel clad in white chained against an invisible wall, much like himself. And in between them, was a fight between a fallen, wingless angel and a demon from hell, clad in black and red armor._

_"VINCENT!"_

_The fallen angel's bloody stumps spewed blood everywhere and his severed wings covered the ground. His eyes were red with anger and the demon showed fear, even though he was winning._

_"VINCENT!!"_

_The fallen angel fell and the demon was about to deliver the finishing blow when the chains broke. He could feel his arms flailing in freefall as he fell to the ground. The demon looked at him as he felt his strength return to him. He could literally feel the blood pumping in his veins._

_"Vincent..."_

Vincent's eyes shot open as he lay on the floor. James was laying no more than three feet from him, his gunblade sticking in the floor next to him. David was about to thrust his Masamune through James when Vincent jumped up and charged at him.

"Leave James out of it." Vincent said, eyes glistening gold. There was a gold aura around him. Vincent's armor began to shine a gold-yellow hue.

"Nice paint job," David commented ever so cynically. "Since when do you care about him?"

"He's my friend, just like you were," Vincent retorted. "And now, you must die."

"Again with the corny lines. Seriously, do you have nothing better to do but come up with shit from movies?"

Without warning, Vincent disappeared and David looked around. Vincent was nowhere to be found. The only people David spotted were Julia and James, unconscious on the floor. David started to back up and bumped into someone. He turned around and got a face full of Vincent's fist. David stumbled as Vincent threw fist after fist, kick after kick. David was bleeding profusely and his armor was dripping that blood. Vincent finally had him on the floor when he pulled out his Buster Sword.

"What was it you said David? Oh yeah, I remember. 'And so it ends.'" Vincent whispered.

"You can't do this," David cried. "You're my best friend, my brother. We're buddies, right?"

"First, you betrayed us; that was a mistake I let slip. Then, you killed Vic and Leon; that I couldn't forget. And in the end, you were willing to kidnap and maybe even kill the one woman I love? _That_ I can't forgive you for. And so it ends, David!" Vincent yelled as he thrust down.

The blade penetrated David's skin and he felt the metal cut through his muscles, his flesh. He could feel the blood dripping off his fingers and running down his face. He watched as Vincent cut the chains, freeing Julia, and threw James over his shoulder, thus waking him up.

Vincent gave David one last look and with a simple "Pathetic..." left. David looked around and the three were gone. He was all alone, surrounded by puddles of blood and pieces of armor lying around. He heard footsteps approach and he turned to the direction the sound came from. It was Reno Solomon...

"You lied to me! You said that if I joined you I would be invincible! I wouldn't be able to die! Look at me! I'm bleeding out of every orifice possible!"

Reno looked at him, "I'm sorry; you were expecting me to always be by your side and help you, heal you no matter what? I didn't know you were kidnapping one of the Chosen Ones. I'm sorry but this fate was brought on by none other than you, David. Good luck in the after world..."

And with that, Reno was gone. David was all alone, just as he was so long ago. He thought back to all the good memories he had suppressed. Memories of Vincent and himself. Memories of the things he and the other Chosen Ones did: joking at breakfast, playing football in the courtyard. David closed his eyes and took his helmet off. He summoned all the strength he could and released it all when he threw his Masamune into the ceiling. The sword blew the ceiling off and David collapsed. He stared at the stars above and started crying. After all he had been through, this was finally it. The end...

Vincent and Julia were on a hill overlooking Solomon's castle when a huge explosion blew the roof off. James had woken up and was being supported by Vincent. He started to walk off when he heard Vincent and Julia whispering. James looked away and kept walking.

"James?" Julia's soft voice asked.

"Yes...?" Was the quiet reply.

"Thank you for what you did and I'm sorry about what happened between us. Please come back to us."

James looked at her and then Vincent. He did miss Claudia but still, there was a war to be fought.

Vincent spoke up for the first time since leaving the castle, "Everyone misses you and we could sure use the help man. What do you say? Friends?"

James looked at the stars. "Why not..." And with that simple reply, the three walked back to Shaman's castle.

David died that night, all alone in an empty castle...


	13. Chapter XII

**Chapter XII**

James squinted as bandages were wrapped around his arm. Julia was trying to be careful but he was a total wreck and no matter what she did, it hurt. Claudia was hugging James's leg the whole time and she was crying. Finally he had returned, her big brother was back. Johnny was standing beside him, looking curious.

"So where have you been this whole time, man?" He asked.

"Here and there." Came the reply followed by a grunt.

"No really man, where? We were looking for you everywhere."

"Obviously it wasn't everywhere if you didn't find me." James gave Johnny a sneaky grin.

"Cute man, very cute. Enough with the sarcasm. What have you been doing this past time?"

"Nothing _Dad_."

Johnny looked at James and gave up. He did an about face and left the room, murmuring something about attitude problems and shoving sticks up somewhere they weren't supposed to be. Vincent walked in with his head down.

"James?" James looked up. "I just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done and I'm sorry. I mean it. I've been a total jackass and there's no excuse for my behavior."

"You're right. You are a total jackass and there is no excuse. But you came through, I must admit. So, Fearless Leader, you think you can lead us, or what's left of us?"

Vincent looked at James. _What does he mean? Lead them? Obviously I'm not cut out for the job. The prophecy is wrong. Someone else should lead. Someone like James or stay with Johnny. Not me. I'm not..._

"Vincent! Stop fucking daydreaming!" Vincent shook his head. James was staring at him annoyed. "I asked you a question and you doze off? What the hell? Are you going to lead us or not Golden Boy?"

"Golden Boy?"

"God, you're helpless..." And with that, James got up and left the room.

_No, things haven't changed. It's as if he never left. I missed him. What the hell is wrong with me? Why have I had my head up my ass this whole time?_

Vincent looked around. It was time for a change. They were the Chosen Ones and yet they were slacking off. The whole world depended on them and he was sitting around, sleeping with Julia. It was time for them to win this war.

The sun was shining and not a cloud was in the sky. The birds were chirping and their beautiful song was almost enchanting. James stood on the walls of the castle. It had been a week since he came back. In those seven days, remaining Chosen Ones had been in multiple fights, about three a day. David was dead, but Reno was still about. James looked around. He saw General Strife walking out of a room with General Valentine. Two days ago, he and Johnny went to go look for the missing general and found him in a cave surrounded by elite Castaways. It was a tough battle but the two managed to finish off six of the nine and have the last three surrender. Valentine was beaten half to death but managed to walk back to the castle with the two Chosen Ones. Despite the injuries suffered amongst the troops, the human/Beast resistance force was doing quite well.

The sun was slowly setting and land was peaceful, but the room was filled with noise. James was sitting in a chair, watching the scene in front of him. The "regular humans" were arguing to see who was going to lead the attack on Reno's headquarters. President Kinneas was sitting in his throne, contemplating a strategy, obviously oblivious to military regulations. General Strife was getting impatient with General Leonhart and it showed.

"Auron, can you please tell the kind general here that charging head on is a ridiculous idea?" Cloud asked.

The colonel looked at the two generals and then at the Chosen Ones. His eye met James' then Vincent's eyes, begging them to help him settle this petty argument.

"General Strife, with all due respect, maybe you need to sit down and relax." Vincent interrupted. "General Leonhart, on behalf of us Chosen Ones, I request that you calm down and let us take care of anything that's causing this heated verbal fight between you two."

James stood up and put his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "What he's trying to say is that useless bickering won't do us any good. We have Reno by the balls so we should strike, I agree. But we shouldn't rush it. We need to seriously think this through. Reno's not stupid. He knows we're gonna do something. So... you guys figure something out, you're the generals for a reason."

Irvine stood up. He looked at his two generals and the other officers sitting against the wall. He walked towards the table and set his hands on it. He looked straight at James.

"We move out. All of us. I will lead the attack against Reno. It's about time I got my hands dirty. I will be the supreme commander and you four generals will assist me."

James looked around. Four? He only counted three. There was Cloud Strife, a smart, calm general. Squall Leonhart, a reckless, feisty fighter. And Vincent Valentine, a quiet loner with a wicked aim. Who was the fourth general?

"Steven Vincent LeBrock," Kinneas walked around the table and over to Vincent. "I, Irvine Kinneas, President of the Federation of Gaia, hereby promote you to the rank of General in the Federal Army of Gaia."

Everyone started clapping and James left the room. He moved to the balcony and stared at the stars. He heard footsteps behind and looked to see who it was. It was someone from Cloud's army. A young woman about 20 years old with shoulder length, brown hair. James looked away. He silently wished Samantha was there, not this random, cute girl.

_Wait. Did I just think she was cute? What the hell is wrong with me? Forget her; I have a job to do. Not to mention I want Samantha. _James turned back and looked at he stars. It was a beautiful night with the moon full, the bright stars, nice landscape and owl hooting far away. _A beautiful night with a beautiful girl. What the fuck? _James looked to the left and found her leaning on the balcony staring at the same sky he was.

"It's nice outside. I like nights like this. It's so romantic." She started. "It reminds me of the calm before the storm. I was told to tell James about the mission tomorrow. You're him right?" She flashed her big, brown eyes at him.

He began to melt under her visage. "Yeah, I'm him. I'm the one you're looking for." _The promise and the threat. _James smiled to himself.

"Great, well, they need you in the briefing room."

"Aright..." and with that, James turned around and began for the briefing room.

"Wait!"

James stopped and turned his head slightly. The girl ran up to him.

"My name is Tifa. It was nice talking to you."

"Pleasure was all mine..."

James started to walk again and went to his room. He knew that everyone was waiting for him in the briefing room, but he didn't care. He dropped onto his bed, looking at the ceiling. There was a big battle the next day and all he could think about was the woman clad in leather...


	14. Chapter XIII

**Chapter XIII**

It was morning and the sun was barely up. The birds were chirping and there was a tranquil atmosphere around. Vincent and Julia were lying in bed holding hands. Johnny was on the patio, doing Tai Chi. James was on the roof, sharpening his Gunblade. The invasion was in a few hours but he couldn't sleep. The young man set the sword down and walked to edge of the roof and looked down. He sat down and let his legs dangle off the edge. His mind kept wandering to the girl from yesterday.

_Tifa. Why can't I get you out of my head? You and your tight leather outfit. The long, silky hair. GOD! Why can't I just forget about you? I don't even know you... This is ridiculous, I have a battle to fight. A sister to protect. A leader to supervise. A group to lead. A world to save. I can't think about personal business. So why am I? You and your damned brown eyes burned into my retinas. This is ridiculous._

He stood up and grabbed his gunblade. He walked towards the door and saw it open with Tifa in the opening. She was wearing her uniform with a sword in her hand. She set it down and placed her helmet next to it. Her hair was in a bun. All in all, she looked really attractive and James couldn't deny it.

"I...I... don't remember what to say. Ummm..." She pulled out a paper from her pocket.

"What are those, your lines?" James smiled.

"No! Umm..." She bit her lip. "Maybe... I... just wanted to say good luck this afternoon."

"I don't need luck. I need someone covering me and I should be fine. Thanks though. I appreciate it." He moved around her and started for the door.

"I love... like you!" She blurted out.

James stopped. _Why does all this shit happen to me?_

"You what?"

"I like you."

"You don't even know me."

"That's not true. I'm always around. I'm always there. Every time General Strife does something, I'm always there. And I get to see you in action. Every time you fight, every time you get mad at General LeBrock, every time you lean your chair back in the briefing room."

"That's creepy. You don't know me, keep it that way. You won't get hurt."

James walked away without looking at her. As he moved down the stairs, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. The farther he walked from her, the more it hurt.

It was noon and the sun wasn't shining anymore. Clouds had formed and the sky was dark. The perfect setting for the final fight. James looked up and felt raindrops on his face.

"Why is it that every time we fight, it rains?" He asked no one in particular.

"It's because the weather hates you." Johnny replied nonchalantly.

"That's just great..."

The six remaining Chosen Ones summoned their guardian spirits. Vincent handed his Buster Sword to James and went into Golden Form. James looked off to the side. General Strife's army was assembled in the center, to the left of the Chosen Ones. He could barely see with the increasing rain, but he could see her clear as day. He felt a tug on his arm. He looked down and saw Samantha standing next to him.

"Look, I know we haven't really hung out much," She started. "But I just want you to know that I feel something for you. It's not love but I think I like you."

"Samantha, there's a time and place for this and don't think this battlefield is it."

"I know, I just wanted you to know before anything happened to either of us."

"That's nice of you, but can we talk about this later? It's about to start."

James pointed in front of him where Irvine Kinneas, President of the Federation of Gaia, stood on a hill and drew his sword. A Castaway scream was heard in the distance. The ground started to shake as Reno Solomon led his army towards the human/Beast army.

Every human and Beast drew their weapon. The Chosen Ones stood in the front, next to Irvine. Vincent turned to the president, clad in armor.

"You know once the battle starts, we won't be able to protect as much."

"I know that Vincent. I know that quite well."

"Then so be it." And with that, Vincent raised his Buster Sword and the five charged, followed by thousands of soldiers if not a million.

Lightning struck the second the two armies clashed. The battle had begun and bodies began to litter the ground. Blood and intestines flew left and right. Screams of the dying sounded. The sound of metal clashing against metal deafened James. He jumped high into the air and landed in the middle of twenty Castaways. He stuck his Revolver gunblade out and spun once, followed by twenty dead Castaways hitting the ground. Vincent was slashing every Castaway he could see. In the back, Julia and Johnny were getting headshot after headshot. Arrows and bolts of energy covered the clouds. The rain started pour harder and the ground became mud. Claudia used her whip to strangle, trip, or slice through her enemies. James looked her and felt proud of her, knowing that his sister was mature now, capable of protecting herself.

After three hours, the battle began to die. Every Castaway was dead, if not being killed by humans or Beasts. Others began to drag away the wounded, including Johnny who suffered a minor concussion when a Castaway torso hit him right in the face. Amongst the thousands of soldiers dead, were a few good officers such as Colonel Auron and Captain Zell Dincht. James walked over to a body bag. He checked the tag and his shoulders slumped. The President, Irvine Kinneas, had been killed as well. He felt a finger poke him in the back. He turned around and saw a bloodied Tifa Lockheart standing in front of him. She jumped up and hugged him.

"I was so worried about you, I lost concentration and got cut you jerk!" She said once the two parted. Just for emphasis she pointed to her arm where a bandage was wrapped around it. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." James looked around. The fight was over. The war was over. There were no more Castaways. Reno was nowhere to be found and the battle had stopped. That was it, the world was safe. "I'm perfectly fine." He said.

"That's good. I'm glad you're ok."

"James!"

_Shit, I know that voice. That's Samantha. She's looking for me. Fuck! I'm over here talking to Tifa. Shit! This can't get any worse. _

An explosion rocked James out of his thoughts. Everyone looked up and saw Reno Solomon standing on the hill.

"You think you've beaten me?!" He shouted. "I haven't even begun yet. First, I would like you to meet my pet, Bahamut!"

A dragon appeared from the sky and everyone started screaming. Chaos ensued and Bahamut began to toast soldiers with his Mage Flare. Cloud and Squall began shouting orders, telling everyone to fight back.

Reno charged Cloud but he was blocked by Vincent and his Buster Sword. "Going somewhere Reno?"

"Yes, but you won't know where..." Reno said and disappeared.

"Shit! Where did he go? Does anyone know where Reno went?"

No one answered. Vincent looked around and saw everyone fighting Bahamut the dragon. A chill went down his spine as Vincent turned around and saw James protecting Samantha and some random girl from Reno as he kept attacking him with David's Masamune.

"JAMES!!!!"

James was blocking blow after blow and was holding his own until he slipped. The ground was slippery from all the rain and his feet had no grip on the mud. The gunblade fell out of his hands. He jumped up and began throwing punches at Reno. Reno blocked every punch and kick. James threw another punch and Reno caught it. He pulled James close and kneed him in the stomach, then dropped him. He looked at Reno. Reno was inches away from Tifa and his arm twitched. Tifa closed her eyes and screamed, but there was no blood. She cracked open an eye and saw Samantha with the Masamune sticking out of her.

James was lying on the ground, bloodied and battered. He was about to faint when he saw Reno run his sword through what he thought was Tifa until he saw Tifa scream and Samantha hanging lifeless on the sword. He yelled out Samantha's name and Reno turned to him. In a blink of an eye, Reno was in front of James and the Masamune was thrust into his body. James felt a surge of energy flow through his veins and everything went black...


	15. Chapter XIV

**Chapter XIV**

James slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His surroundings were unknown. Where was he? Why were the walls pink and with bunnies?

"Bout time you woke up," James heard a voice from next to him. He looked and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "You've been asleep for the past six hours."

James looked around and realized that he was in the bunny room with Julia.

"I spend way to much time here." His head hurt real bad and, "Why can't I remember anything? What happened after Bahamut appeared? Tifa and Samantha? Are they ok?"

Julia looked away. James looked next to him. Tifa and Samantha were on either side of him, lying in bed with bandages all over both. A tear fell down his face.

"What happened? Why are they here?" James sat up, regardless of injuries. "I need to think." And he left to the roof.

_What happened? Why can't I remember anything? Where is everyone? Wait, the scream. And Reno with his sword. Samantha was skewered. The gunblade... Lionheart... The Lionheart gunblade... _

_James was lying on the ground, bloodied and battered. He was about to faint when he saw Reno run his sword through what he thought was Tifa until he saw Tifa scream and Samantha hanging lifeless on the sword. He yelled out Samantha's name and Reno turned to him. In a blink of an eye, Reno was in front of James and the Masamune was thrust into his body. James felt a surge of energy flow through his veins and everything went black._

_James stood up. He watched as Reno pulled the Masamune out of Samantha's body. Her lifeless corpse fell, but Tifa caught her before she hit the ground._

_"Tifa, get Samantha to a medic, or find Julia." James whispered. His hoarse voice resounded in the valley next to the hill where the fight between Bahamut and the army had stopped. Reno looked at James and noticed his eyes had turned red._

_"The Hawk wants to fight, doesn't he?"_

_"The Hawk wants to rip you to shreds Reno." James replied._

_"Well, the Hawk is going to have to wait." And with that, Reno vanished. James turned around. He saw Samantha bleeding, held by a bloodied Tifa. James looked up and saw Bahamut come back for a second attack. The surge of energy came back. James fell to his knees and screamed at the top of his lungs. An explosion stopped Bahamut dead in his tracks. He looked down at the golden Vincent who was no match for the God Dragon._

_Suddenly, there was a flash of gold to the right. A gold aura was emitted by another one of those Chosen Ones. But this one had those red eyes Reno warned him about. The phoenix, Vincent, was about to charge when the Hawk stopped him. Bahamut could feel his energy from the ground. He began to feel something the God Dragon had never felt before, fear._

_James looked up at Reno's "pet." "If I can't get Reno, I'll get his piece of shit dragon. Nobody interferes. Got it?"_

_Everyone nodded. "Good."_

_James jumped and found himself several hundreds of feet in the air. He was eyelevel with Bahamut and drew the gunblade. His golden gloves reflected in the blade of the Revolver and James summoned every ounce of energy and transferred into the gunblade. The weapon began to shift and change forms and the blade itself turned blue. Wings sprouted from James' back and he floated in front of Bahamut._

_"This is the Lionheart gunblade. It's what's going to kill you."_

_Bahamut scoffed and started to laugh. James took the chance and disappeared. Bahamut looked around but couldn't find the Hawk. James appeared above Bahamut and began to slice. He cut Bahamut right in between the eyes and landed on his nose. He ran on Bahamut's face with his blade still in his target. He jumped from the face onto the left wing and cut a big hole in it. Bahamut began to fall, not able to balance with a hole in his wing. While falling, James teleported himself onto the other wing and cut a big J in it. James ran across the wing and landed on Bahamut's back. He slashed through inches of impenetrable skin and sliced all the way down to the tip of the tail, which James used to propel himself back to Bahamut's face. Bahamut crashed onto the hill where it all started and all anyone could see through the thick smoke was James' golden aura glowing through the dust and debris. He walked up to Johnny and took the Death Penalty. He aimed at what was left of Bahamut._

_"I call this the 'Griever'" James said as he pulled the trigger, causing a mushroom cloud to form in the crater holding Bahamut. James threw the gun away and approached Vincent._

_"That's how you get the job done."_

_There was a scream and James turned around. Reno stood in the distance with another army of Castaways. James drew the Lionheart and vanished. There was an explosion in the distance. The Chosen Ones saw the Castaways getting slaughtered and every now and then, there was a golden flash maneuvering in the crowd. Within seconds, the army was gone, replaced by bodies scattered on the muddy ground. James dropped to his knees again and screamed, releasing all his energy and causing an explosion. The blast consumed the entire battlefield and the landscape was destroyed. Cloud and Squall began to evacuate their soldiers but it was too late. The blast caught up to the human camp, but for some reason the energy just phased through them, causing no harm. _

_James walked back to the humans. Samantha was barely alive. He licked her up and transferred some of his energy into her. She opened her eyes and began to cough up blood._

_"Somebody heal her."_

_Tifa looked at James. "You love her don't you?"_

_James looked at her brown eyes. "I don't love anyone. I don't feel. I just fight."_

_"I love you though..."_

_"You shouldn't..." James walked away. He powered down and dropped to the ground, exhausted. Tifa ran up to him. "Why not me?"_

_James turned to look at her. She was bleeding from the cut on her arm. "You should get that checked out. You'll bleed to death." James walked back to the castle, alone. Just as always._

"I can do it too. I'm one of those golden guys like..."

"Me." Vincent came up from behind James. "You know, you scared everyone in the bunny room. I got worried too."

"Well, here I am, just fine. Just confused and without answers. What's happening to me? What is this golden crap that affected us?"

"Apparently it's what happens when we feel a rush of emotion. The first time it hurts a lot. You feel a rush of blood to the head and you lose control of your body. After awhile it doesn't hurt anymore. Just the actual transformation tickles."

"So, Reno's still out there. And this war isn't over yet."

"Yeah, the only thing left is to attack Reno himself."

James grimaced. "I was so close to him. I almost had him. I hate that guy."

"Don't worry, we'll get him." Vincent looked behind him. "Hey, I'll leave you alone man." And without another word, Vincent was gone.

James head footsteps behind and Tifa sat down next to him. "They say Samantha will be ok. I'm sorry for my behavior. I shouldn't act so immature. I mean..."

"It's fine." James interrupted. He wrapped his arm around her, shielding her from the cold breeze. She rested her head on his shoulder and James sat there, on the roof of the castle, still alone...


	16. Chapter XV

**Chapter XV**

It was morning and Johnny Saldaña was thrown from his bed. He rolled on the floor and hit his head on the floor.

"You weren't supposed to move the bed so hard dude." He heard Vincent say.

"Why..." Johnny managed to say.

All at once, the five standing inhabitants of the room shouted happy birthday and the prone Johnny turned red. He had completely forgotten his own birthday. How old was he now? 19?

"Dude, how does it feel to legally buy drinks now?" Vincent asked.

_21, not 19. You're getting old Johnny boy. My God, where do the years fly to?_

"Hey, wake up!" James shouted. "Why does everyone zone out when I'm trying to be nice?"

"You guys are too loud. I just woke up... assholes..." Johnny mumbled.

21 years ago, Johnny Saldaña was born and here he was, in the middle of a war. Reno had summoned more beasts to his will and he was now attacking the Kalm Lands. There had been some close calls, but Johnny didn't care. He was 21 now.

Those beasts were so much stronger than Castaways and the Chosen Ones had some trouble even with James and Vincent in their Golden Form, but Johnny could care less.

Cloud walked into the room. "We need to see you guys now." His voice quivered and there was a sense of fear in the room

"Reno's striking again. He has sent two of his beasts over here." Cloud pointed on a map. Cloud Strife, former General of the Federation of Gaia, had been elected the new President after Irvine was killed in the attack against Reno. "We don't have anymore information, so we figured we send you guys instead of a platoon of troops, just in case they couldn't handle it."

"You don't know anything...?" Johnny asked. This was beginning to be a bad birthday.

Cloud looked at him, "All we know is that those two aren't exactly nice, kind animals. There's Ifrit, the fire demon. A vicious, dog-like beast that manipulates fire. And then there's Shiva, the ice goddess. A beautiful, angel that controls the ice. That's all we know."

"That's good enough for us. Let's go guys." Vincent stood up and left the room. He was followed by the others. Johnny took a last look at the map. Cloud put a hand on his shoulder.

"Happy birthday Johnny."

It was windy as the group moved past the city of Nibelheim. It was weird since there wasn't a storm coming but the group pressed on. Nothing was going to stop them. Claudia was singing as she ran ahead of the group. Despite the things she's seen and the eyes that were too old for her age, she still had youth in her as she skipped ahead. Johnny smiled to himself.

Alongside the Chosen Ones was a platoon of Squall's elite SOLDIER members. Vincent had declined Cloud's offer to send troops with them, but Squall was relentless. He was afraid that the Chosen Ones could not stop not one, but two Summons as they were called. The platoon was split into two groups, half in the front and the other half behind the kids. In charge of them was a happy guy by the name of Wakka, or as the men called him, The Lieutenant.

Off duty, Wakka was simply Wakka. But on duty, he was always The Lieutenant. Not Lieutenant Wakka or LT, it was always The Lieutenant. The men looked up the jolly man and respected him beyond all.

The lead scout on Wakka's team was a wolf-beast that reminded the Chosen Ones of Leon, their fallen comrade. He moved with precision and speed as he sweeped the area for hostiles. The bow he was carrying was pulled back and ready to fire an arrow. A twig snapped and the wolf stopped. The entire group behind him drew their weapons and the Chosen Ones were looking around trying to find the cause of the sound.

There was a scream and one of Wakka's soldiers was on fire. He fell to the floor and started rolling and the flames died out. The medic approached him immediately and began working on him. Vincent walked up to Wakka.

"Maybe it would be smart if you pulled your men back to safety. Let us take care of this situation."

"We are brave General Vincent. We'll be fine. We have a job to do; we must protect you so you can defeat Ifrit and Shiva."

"Fine Lieutenant, so be it. Just know that the six of us can't help all 16 of you."

"I know sir, I know."

There was a thud and the crowd looked up. Ifrit stood before the 22 people with flames in his hands. His eye twitched and he growled. Almost at once, James and Vincent were in their golden armor, charging at the Summon.

"Vincent!"

Vincent turned around and saw Johnny and some of Wakka's people fighting Shiva. _Shit, where did she come from? We need to split this fight._

"James! Take Johnny and Claudia and get Shiva away from this fight!" He shouted.

"But if we act smart, we can get Ifrit and Shiva to hit each other. Ice and fire, Vincent." James pleaded.

"We can't risk it, what if it doesn't work?"

Wakka jumped in between. "Let me send some of my men with you. Rikku!"

A perky little girl about 18 fired an arrow and ran towards her commander.

"She will help you." Wakka said and James nodded.

James and Rikku began to move in the other direction and Johnny and Claudia followed. Rikku's team was firing arrows as Shiva was drawn away from the fight. Vincent nodded. Now that Shiva was gone, he could focus on Ifrit and only Ifrit. A few of Wakka's soldiers had fallen and the medic was trying to drag the bodies away when a fireball went right for him. It would've killed him if wasn't for the Buster Sword getting in the middle. Vincent began to fight Ifrit one on one.

James sliced a huge chuck of ice as Shiva threw more and more at him. Claudia, Rikku and her SOLDIERs were cutting into Shiva with their swords, but she didn't care. She was going after the one who killed her brother Bahamut. She was going after James.

Johnny stood off to the side. He was on his knees and he couldn't feel his arm.

_Is it broken? Shit, it really hurts. Fuck, I can't even move it. _He looked up. _James can't hold her off much longer. If he loses, then it's up to me and Claudia. We won't stand a chance against whatever killed James. And Rikku, her SOLDIERs won't last a second. If James and I fail, the whole world will die. Everyone I care for will die. Everyone I love will be slaughtered. These Summons will tear them to shreds and I won't be able to do a damn thing._

Johnny moved his one good arm up and took off his helmet. He wiped away the sweat and blood from his forehead. His helmet seemed to be staring at him.

"Tell me what to do. Falcon, tell me what to do. I'm lost. I'm hurt. Falcon, help me."

_The whole world was white. It was just blank. Everywhere he looked, he saw white. He tried to take a step but he couldn't. He heard a whisper and looked in front of him. There was a beautiful angel in front of him. Blonde, flowing hair. The most amazing blue eyes. Simply beautiful._

_"I am Shiva." She said. "I've come to stop my brothers from doing what Reno wants them to do, but I fear I cannot. Reno's ways are just too tempting for me. He has complete control over me now."_

_The white environment had turned into a flaming pit of death. Carcasses lay all around him as the pyres sneaked closer to him. The beautiful angel was on fire, an azure flame ran up her arm and consumed her. The flames froze as she froze her entire body, turning into the form she was now._

_"He promised us wealth and power, and I'm afraid I can't say no. If all I have to do is kill you, then so be it. But why can't I have a little fun while I'm at it. I'll rip you apart limb by limb. And your friends to. And everyone you know."_

Johnny opened his eyes. He felt a surge of energy flow through him as he screamed. He grabbed his head as he caught on fire. A golden fire. Johnny screamed again. Shiva had James on the ground and an ice sword by his throat as she turned to Johnny. He stood before her, armor glowing gold and eyes crimson red. He cracked his neck and pulled out the Death Penalty that General Valentine gave him. Johnny looked at it and it began to change shapes. The three barrels extended and the gun grew horns and spikes.

"This is Cerberus." Johnny's low voice echoed in Shiva's ear. "And all the things you said you would do, he will do to you."

Shiva dropped her sword and began to charge Johnny. He closed one eye and pulled the trigger...


End file.
